Drier for footwear



March 17, 1953 R. RONNING 7 2,632,084

DRIER FOR FOOTWEAR Filed July 2, 1951 INVENTOR .xfeidar fdzzzzizzg PZZQMQTWM ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE DRIER FOR FOOTWEAR.

Reidar Riinning, Oslo, Norway Application July 2, 1951, Serial No. 234,873

1 Claim.

This invention is an improvement in driers, especially a drier for footgear, such as boots and shoes.

An important object of my invention is to provide a drier which can be inserted into an article of footwear and evaporate the moisture rapidly without risk of damaging the material of which the article is made. The drier comprises a hollow body conforming in shape to the interior configuration of the article, so that the drier can conveniently be inserted; and the drier contains an eflicient electrical heating unit of special construction, readily connected by a flexible conductor and plugged to an ordinary electrical power outlet or other accessory in an electrical supply system.

Another object is to provide such drier that is practical and durable in use, easy to handle, consisting of parts that are simple, inexpensive to produce and capable of being quickly assembled and tightly joined together in their final operative positions.

The nature of the invention is clearly set forth in the ensuing description, and the novel features are defined in the claim. The drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of the device, but the disclosure is explanatory only; and variations in minor respects may be made without actual alteration or omission of any of the essential characteristics.

n said drawings:

Figure 1 is a top elevation of the finished drier.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section on line 22 in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan of the drier with the upper part or cover removed; and

Figure 4 is a cross section along line 4-4 on Figure 3.

The drier comprises a casing or body shaped somewhat like the human foot, with a bottom section or sole l, and an arched top section or cover 2. On the sole is a layer 3 of insulation, such as asbestos or other non-inflammable material, upon which rests an electrical heating unit 4, supplied with current through conductors 5 which enter the drier through an aperture in the upper section 3 at the rear. The wires 5 are both connected to a coil 6 of metal, which emits heat when electric current traverses it. When the drier is inserted in a boot, shoe, sock or stocking, all moisture and dampness soon disappear.

The coil 8 is wound on a strip 1 of insulation, such as mica, and rests on a sheet 8 of the same material between it and the asbestos layer 3. The strips 1 and 8 are of the same width, and on top of the sheet 8 are two long narrow strips l0 and II. These strips are each flush along one edge with an edge of the strip 1, and along their opposite or inner edges the strips overlap, as shown in Figure 3.

The strips 10 and II are notched in the outer edges near their rear ends to form recesses 12, to expose the terminals H! of the coil 6. These terminals are preferably eyelet rivets made fast to the strip 6, and the conductors 5 are aiiixed thereto. The rear ends or the strips 10 and H are widened as indicated at 9. In the approximate center of the ends 9 is a guide [4, consisting of a strip of metal bent into a closed loop, with its ends curved crosswise and brought together to form a tubular bearing 15 through which the conductors 5 are passed. The ends have lateral projections l6 that are riveted together. The conductors are led into the casing through an opening which has a concave head I! around its end to be tightly encircled by the end turn of a spirally curved length of wire that forms a protective sleeve I8 for the conductors and prevents contact between the edge of said opening and the conductors 5.

The bottom I, being of sheet material, is stamped to form elevated seats l9 at the ends, the seats being perforated for bolts 20 which pass through openings in the layer 3 and the mica and bear nuts on their threaded inner ends to hold the heater and mica strips and the layer 3 fast in place. The rear bolt and nut also secure the guide member M. The heads of the bolts 20 are thus countersunk in the exterior depressions under the seats l9. The sole I also has an upturned rim 2| that snugly envelops the edge of the tcp'section 2, and the edges of the section 2 have projections 22 that pass through slots 23 in the section i and are bent over to hold the sections l and 2 in assembled positions. The sole I also is punched to present small protuberances 24 on its lower'or outer face to rest upon the inner sole of a boot or shoe, and keep most of the outer surface of the section I out of contact with said shoe or boot to avoid damage by overheating. The top or cover 2 has ventilating openings 25; and at the rear of the drier is a handle 26.

In practice the conductors are connected to a source of electric energy and the drier is put into the wet shoe, boot, sock or stocking. The driers are used in pairs and the conductors can be joined to a common connector plug.

Having described my invention, what I believe to be new is:

A drier for footwear comprising a casing having a bottom section, an arched top section attached to the bottom section, a layer of noninflammable heat resisting electrical insulation on said bottom section, a strip of insulation on said layer having a heating coil wound about it, insulation superposed on said strip and recessed at the sidesnearxone end to expose the terminals of said coil, a guide loop adjacent one end of the strip carrying a bearing for electrical conductors connected to said terminals and passing through said bearing, the bottom sectionvhaving elevated seats with apertures, said layer, said strip, said superposed insulation and said loop also having apertures alined with the apertures in said bottom, and fastening devices in said apertures to secure said layer, strip, insulation and loop upon said seats.

IREIDAR RNNING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 421,897 Bignall Feb. 25, 1890 584,313 Adams June 15, 1897 613,343 'Westerfi'eld -INoy. 1, 1898 621,032 Chalmers Mar. 14, 1899 730,739 Bucklin June 9, 1903 767,378 Bower Aug. 16, 1904 1,054,259 Wales Feb. 25, 1913 1,543,828 Doyle June 30, 1925 2,040,371 Gough May 12, 1936 2,098,735 Yentis Nov. 9, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 67,092 Norway Nov. 22, 1943 282,222 Gre'atBritain Dec. 22,1927 

